Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd (born Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, December 9, 1932, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter who has played every spectrum of jazz and pop from Big Band to BeBop to Fusion Jazz to Jazz Rap. Byrd is still one of Blue Note Records most memorable recording artists. He was also a notable sideman for many fellow Blue Note Artists including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Video:Donald Byrd - Estavanico Video:Guru Featuring Donald Byrd - Loungin' Byrd attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school. After playing in a military band during a term in the Air Force, he obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music. While still at the Manhattan School, he joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,as the replacement for Clifford Brown. In 1955, he recorded with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron. Byrd left the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with a wide variety of highly regarded jazz musicians, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and Thelonious Monk. Byrd's first full-time band was a quintet that he co-led from 1958-1961 with Pepper Adams, an ensemble whose hard driving performances were captured "live" on At the Half Note Cafe. In June 1964, Byrd jammed with jazz legend Eric Dolphy in Paris just two weeks before Dolphy's death from insulin shock. In the 1970s, he moved away from his previous hard-bop jazz base and began to record jazz fusion, Jazz-funk, soul-Jazz, and rhythm and blues. In 1973, he created the Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (#3 R&B, #19 Pop), "Walking In Rhythm" (#4 R&B, #6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park". He teamed up with producer-composers the Mizell Brothers, Larry and Fonce) for Black Byrd in 1972. It was highly successful and became Blue Note Records' highest-ever selling album. The title track climbed to #19 on Billboard's R&B chart and reached the Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at #88. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Byrd, Street Lady, Places and Spaces and Steppin' Into Tomorrow were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples for acid jazz artists such as Us3. Most of the material for the albums was written by Larry Mizell. In 1994, Byrd appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Category:Album - Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine. He has taught music at Rutgers University, the Hampton Institute, New York University, Howard University, Queens College, Oberlin College, Cornell University and Delaware State University. In addition to his Masters from Manhattan School of Music, Byrd has two masters from Columbia University. Byrd received a law degree in 1976, and his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in 1982. In September 2009, he was named an artist-in-residence at Delaware State University.Dr. Donald Byrd Named Artist in Residence, DSU Press Release, September 4, 2009 Byrd lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats, The Star-Ledger, September 28, 2004 He may be best remembered as one of the only BeBop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a pop artist. References External links * *Donald Byrd Discogs entry *Donald Byrd discography at jazzdisco.org Category:1932 births Category:Trumpeters Category:Byrd, Donald Category:Trumpeters - BeBop Category:Trumpeters - Post-Bop Category:Trumpters - Funk Category:Trumpters - Hard Bop Category:Trumpeters - American Category:Living Artists Category:Trumpters - Jazz Fusion Category:Prestige Records - Artists Category:Columbia Records - Artists Category:Elektra Records - Artists Category:Blue Note Records - Artists Category:Wayne State University Alumni Category:African American Performers Category:Manhattan School of Music - Alumni Category:1932 Category:Savoy Records - Artists Category:Verve Records - Artists Category:Bessie Award Winners Category:Blue Note Records Artists Category:Blue Note Recording Artists Category:1964 Category:1955 Category:1956 Category:1958 Category:The 1970s Category:John Coltrane Category:1972 Category:1976 Category:1994 Category:Sidemen - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers